Sweeter
by fRANkiEGirL61
Summary: Darren has to drink Debbie's blood, with permission of course, on the long trek to Vampire Mountain with her and Alice. What horrible monsters and emotions will be realeased when Darren does this? Dar/Deb two-shot, full sum inside. NOW COMPLETE! :D
1. Sweeter, Part 1: Ask

**Full sum: It takes place in book 10, and instead of going with Hartkat, Darren decides to stay with Debbie and Alice and make the trek to Vampire Mountain. Not really any spoilers even if you're not up to 10 yet. :D They've been traveling for about a month, and Darren, like, _really, _needs human blood. He lost those human blood bottles he mentioned in book 10 that he was taking with him along the way. The effects keep getting worse and worse, and of course being the gentleman he is he _has_ to ask Debbie if he can drink her blood, feeling he would be un comfortable asking Alice because he doesn't know her as well. Debbie kindly accepts, but what will she think that morning she wakes up and it's all done and over, knowing what Darren had just did to her last night while she slept? Wow, long sum for a two-shot! **

**Hello all! Cirque du freak is currently my all-time favorite series so I just had to write a two-shot about it. Yes, this is a two-shot, but I may eventually write a sequal one-shot or alternative outcome. They all might be a little OOC, sorry! Darren Shan is not mine. (Alright that sounds weird.) The Darren Shan saga is not mine. (Better.) Enjoy! :D**

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The wind whipped against my face, flushed and wet. I lifted my hand up to feel my cheek, which had a numb and damp feeling. I imagined it looked red and splotchy. My feet slapped against the snow covered ground with even, continuous thumps. The cold after noon air was all around, causing chills throughout my body and my teeth to chatter.

Gradually I stopped trying to keep up with Darren; it was physically impossible. I was already nearly a mile behind. I stopped running, slowing down to match Alice's pace.

We walked endlessly, wondering when we would finally find Darren waiting for us.

"We're slowing him down so much." I mumbled, kicking a clump of bad snow across the bumpy hills in the land. "If it weren't for us he'd have already gotten there weeks ago."

Alice sighed from beside me. "What can you say Debbie? He's a half vampire. He's restless. Going slow and waiting for us is hard for him, he's got to be moving, that kid."

"Don't call him a kid!" I looked at her. "He may only seem around sixteen physically, but that's because he's a half-vampire, you know it! In reality, he was born two years before me! If he stayed human all his life, at the moment he would be two years older than me! Mentally he's quite an adult." I said curtly. It bothered me very much how young he looked, and it was kinda a touchy subject.

"Okay, sheesh." Alice rolled her eyes to the sky. "I know."

"I'm so excited." I mumbled. "We've been at this for a while now. How long have we been traveling?" I spoke softly, changing the subject in a sudden casual way.

"A few months at least." Alice sniffed, looking up at the blue yet cloud covered sky. "It's so strange here; I hope Darren knows what he's doing."

"He does."

After a few minutes of silence Alice and I approached this tiny clearing, where Darren was waiting for us.

"We're staying here for the night." He said, grinning. "I've got some meat for you guys to eat for dinner also."

Behind him I saw the body of a large, fat deer, dead and completely drained of its blood. It was rich in meat though, it had probably been a spoiled thing.

"Thanks." Alice said, while I tried, but failed, to suppress a shudder.

"I know it's cold." Darren said. "I'm freezing up here, too." He rubbed my arms harshly. "No jacket's warm enough for this weather."

"Of course, that's coming from you, the boy walking around in bear feet." I replied, motioning to his un protected, bloody, and scarred feet.

I'd sounded pretty normal if you ask me, even though I'd shuddered for a different reason. I've known that Darren was a half-vampire for a while now, and I was perfectly used to such a concept. It was only that frankly, he _drank blood._ Human blood for the matter. That's why I shuddered, because Darren drank blood, such as from this deer. Now I knew he was no vampaneze, but all the same it still made me un comfortable.

I stared at the white, ghostly deer. I knew that after he found our camp for the night and while he was waiting for us he'd caught it and… drank its blood. The thing was drained. I wondered why he was drinking animal blood if he needed human blood, but obviously I was too scared to ask.

Darren placed huge servings of meat in front of Alice and I, which Alice had cooked, although not nearly enough, from the fire I'd worked up. He got a much smaller share of food, since he didn't really need it.

"Eat up." He said.

"So." Alice began open-mouthed as she chewed. "Darren. How come you've been… faltering?"

"Faltering?" I asked confused, looking at her quizzically. "What?"

I glanced over at Darren, wondering what Alice was saying, and he looked… ashamed?

Alice turned to me, amused. "Looks like someone isn't that observant."

"I just-" Alice cut me off.

"Fortunate for you Debbie, I pay attention. I've noticed over the past few days that Darren has been traveling very slow compared to before, eating and drinking much more than usual and leaning against things. He's been having this dizzy look." She turned to Darren. "Care to explain?"

Darren shrugged, eyeing Alice and I, particularly me. "No reason really, other than what you already know. We've been traveling for months, and this raw meat really isn't enough to keep someone going."

"Yeah." I frowned at him. "For Alice and I maybe, but you're a different story."

"It looks like Alice is imagining things." He said to Alice.

"I rather doubt that." Alice eyed him suspiciously, her jaw jutting out. Then she turned to me. "You'll see."

I grinned, trying to end the conversation. "Of course I will." I moved away from my spot next to Alice and went to the other side where I could sit by Darren, the warm air of the fire beating against my body. "Of course."

Darren grinned along with me, and eventually Alice started laughing too, a surprise because I was usually used to her serious, no-joking-matter mood.

For about 45 minutes we ate, laughed and joked and all, and sat by the fire. The warmth felt really good against the frigid, cold night. Every once in a while I huffed into my hands, cupped around my face. Darren saw my technique and tried to too.

"Aaaahhh." A compulsory shudder ran through him. "That felt nice."

"And warm, right?" I asked him.

"Yeah, really warm."

At the other end of the fire Alice slowly stood up. "I'm packing it in."

"Goodnight." I watched as she slowly walked across the cavern. Her legs were clearly stiff from all the traveling and walking we'd done today.

"When are we gonna reach another one of those thingies?" I asked Darren through a yawn, referring to the underground rest stop things we came across every once in a while. They came with human blood according to Darren, and a big coffin, I'd seen with my own eyes. Darren said he wasn't using the coffins, he was against them.

"Soon. Which reminds me..." He said, quickly adding a short "Goodnight!" to Alice, who was cuddled up in the corner of the snow covered cavern, where it was warmest. He put out the fire, and I thought I heard him mumble something like, "Be right back." Then he slipped away into the cold, freezing night.

I considered asking him where he was going, but I knew he would be back eventually.

The dark, chilling space coursed within me as I cuddled up myself near Alice. Blackness ran through my system as I stared into empty darkness.

"Goodnight Debbie." Alice's muffled voice came from somewhere to my left.

"Goodnight." I murmured.

I lay there for a while, listening to the sounds of nature from just a few feet away, and feeling the cold blasts of wind slap against me. Minutes passed by, it'd been forever, where was he?

Finally Darren came back, and saw that Alice was asleep.

"Hey." He whispered, sitting down by me. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure." I muttered, without moving or opening my eyes.

"Mind coming outside?" he asked feebly, twiddling with his hair.

"Are you kidding me?" I opened my eyes and glared at him.

"Well it important. Debbie please just come. The faster we can get this over with then, right?"

"Fine." I followed him outside, wrapping my arms around myself. We were outside our camp for the night, the silent word stretched out in front of us, calm, snowy, and serene. "Yes?" I asked him, hopping on my feet to keep warm.

"Well…" He blushed, looking down at himself. "Before you asked me when the next 'thingy' was. Well you reminded me about it, and just now I left and ran to find it. I went really fast, and finally reached it.-"

"You found it!" I interrupted him. "Why don't we go there?"

He shook his head. "Too far away for you guys to reach it before drop-dead-from-lack-of-sleep-time. Besides, we're already set up here. But we'll make it there sometime around 11:30 am tomorrow. Tomorrow can be our relaxing day. Starting at 11:30 we can just lounge and catch ourselves up with ourselves."

"That doesn't make sense."

"It does to me." Darren said, smiling briefly. "Anyway, I found the next rest stop and looked inside to see if it had everything."

"Yes, you were gone a long time, almost an hour." I said; this explained why.

"Yeah," He said as he began walking around to warm up his legs. "Well I reached it and there were the coffin's where they always are. But no blood." He looked at me funnily, blushing crazily.

"What?" I asked. I was beginning to feel all squirmish. "No human blood?"

"Nope." He shook his head, popping his mouth at the 'p.' "So, anyway, let me just finish without interruptions." He looked embarrassed, his face cherry red.** "**I know we've passed about four rest stops alreadybut all the human blood was gone in each one of them."

Gone? What did he mean gone? If, for some strange reason all the blood was missing, how would he get the human blood he needed? My mind reeled as I suddenly realized where he was going…

"That is strange itself, but probably just some other vampire has been traveling also and got to each rest stop before us. And, er, I just checked in the rest stop we'll reach tomorrow, and the blood was gone in that one also. Since it was, I have no other choice because I lost the blood bottles with human blood I took here myself in the beginning of the trip. So, um, basically I know you _a lot _better than Alice, and so I'm more comfortable asking you. Um, remember when Alice asked me about why I'm faltering?"

"Yeah."

"Well that's because I haven't had any human blood for a long time, and if I got too long without it, I'll die."

"Darren! I don't want that!" My legs felt weak as I shook, Darren could never die.

"Whenever I have to drink someone's blood that I know I always ask out of politeness."

"Uh-huh." I nodded weakly.

"Debbie, do you think, I can maybe, uh, drink your blood?"

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There we go. This is the first half of my two-shot. Originally it was a one-shot but I decided that if I kept it a one-shot it would be too long. So two shots. Was when Darren asked Debbie outside too long? I know in book 10 when he asks Evanna and it's really fast. Anyway I believe all three characters were at least a bit OOC, so sorry about that. I don't have a beta for this, so maybe you can review and help me with my horrible grammar and writing skills and stuff. Tell me if this sounds like a good idea please. I believe this is the FIRST Darren/Debbie fic, because there are no fics under Debbie's character. Lastly, my biggest concern is that it's confusing, so please tell me what's confusing and how I can fix it. Maybe this can get beta'd through reviews. Anyway please review, it will make my day and I'll give you a shout out in part two! Please vote in my poll and review!

_**Frankiegirl61**_


	2. Sweeter, Part 2: Monster

**Thank you very much to for reviewing, I appreciate it a lot. Here is part 2, yay! If you think I should write a sequel one-shot or alternative outcome one-shot, please tell me in a review or PM. I've also been reading a lot of Cirque/HP crossovers lately, and am considering starting my own that adds to the pile of stories where Darren goes to Hogwarts, secretly a half-vampire. Tell me how that sounds too please! Anyway this short story was very fun to write, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. So if you read this, please tell me your thoughts by leaving a review at the bottom! The Cirque is not mine, its 's. I mean, Cirque du Freak is not mine, its Darren's the author Darren, not the character…aiy yai aiy Ok I am worried that this is VERY CONFUSING, one of the most confusing pieces I've ever written, so please tell me what you thought. Oh and also, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR BOOK 12 and 10! Please remember it takes place in book 10, where Darren went with Alice and Debbie instead of Harkat! :D**

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End of Part #1: "Debbie, do you think, I can maybe, uh, drink your blood?"-Darren

Darren stared at me, waiting for a response. His hesitant face was full of worry, and his brow creased low, a frown. I stood there, in silent and endless pondering. Was I shocked? Not really, this is what I expected him to ask, but I was nervous, and well, freaked out. This was freaky.

I didn't feel as if I was in my own body. I felt outside of myself…? Some how? My legs suddenly felt un sturdy beneath me, and this strange emotion flared throughout my body, from my toes to brain, which took it in wonder. Darren had made it so I couldn't be angry at him. He'd said something like, 'I need human blood to live.' So how could I not let Darren live? I cared about him deeply, I guess you could say he used to be my boyfriend when we were the same age, and now he was a close friend. We both shared the same secret knowledge about so much… such as vampirism and what not.

So even if Darren had not made it so I felt obliged to say yes, I still would have accepted anyway, riiiight?

My mind reeled in frustration. Darren was being really stupid! He definitely should have asked Alice. '_I know you better, so I would feel too un comfortable to ask Alice.' _Was his excuse. That's what he'd said, and frankly, it was stupid. Why? It was stupid because, 1. Unlike me, even though I'd grown to be a much tougher and hardcore woman over the years, Alice was like that naturally. She was tougher than me, and un like me, she had no problem with the concept of drinking blood. It didn't give her the jeebies like it gave me. This was unfair. 2. _Darren has already drunk from Alice before!_ It was true, he had. A while ago in Darren claimed he was thirsty and Alice cut her own arm for Darren to drink from. _And he did! _So from that fact, I was getting the vibe that Alice didn't really care, unlike me. Did Darren not remember that?!

"Debbie… are you okay?" Darren's soft, deep, sixteen year old voice took me out of my own little rant-filled world.

My head snapped up and looked Darren strait in the eye, taken out of my seemingly endless pondering.

"Darren." I mumbled. "How about Alice?" I asked him, already knowing what my answer would be if he said no.

"Debbie…"

"Actually, never mind Darren. You asked me, and since I care, the answer is yes." I immediately backed away from him as I spoke; scared he would go straight for me to get it over with instead of giving me time to prepare myself for the horrible ordeal.

"Great." Darren grinned, and surprisingly he stood right where he had been this whole time, not moving an inch.

"Yeah." I breathed. Darren walked towards me and for a second I was scared that this was it, before realizing I was being pulled into a hug.

"Thanks." Darren mumbled through his grin.

At first I was scared, and wanted to back away, but Darren's smiling face, and the wonderful and truly kind look in his eyes told me otherwise. Darren seemed so happy, and yes, this was the Darren that I'd known and loved for so long. And he wasn't bad, not one bit. He was good.

I grinned also and hugged him back; he was really a great friend.

Darren smiled as he spoke, "I wanna go see something."

"What?" I asked him, as I sat down against a tree.

"The last time I came here there were these wolves-"

"Wolves!" I interrupted him. "Really? Is it safe?!"

"Of course it is." Darren replied. "Vampires and wolves get along. I even befriended a few of them," I rolled my eyes at the insanity, though not entirely surprised. "And now I wanna go find them. I should be back by the time you and Alice wake up though, just tell her."

"Alright." I nodded. "See you." I said.

"Yeah, bye." He murmured, and then dashed away into the dark snowy night, where the moon shone brightly somewhere far away in a different land, sending sparkles across the air. But here it was just dark. I watched as his shadowy figure disappeared into the shadows of the world, knowing he would be safe with night vision.

_But here it was just dark. _I rethought, thinking that was a bad sight. But since when was I ever superstitious? Oh yeah, ever since I found out about vampires and evil vampaneze. That usually does it.

Without Darren here standing across from me, who was so knowledgeable at a time like this, I felt unsafe. Shivering, it was almost as if the darkness was seeping into me, and ringing throughout my body. It was freaky!

With a heart drowning in darkness, I heaved a sigh, trudging back into the cavern where Alice was asleep. I lay myself down, wondering what the hell I'd gotten myself into when I accepted Darren's question… was this gonna end up being a bad thing? Uh-oh…

~*~

Sunlight filtered through the leafless tree branches, instantly sending this chilling warm feeling through my body as I woke up. I felt as if I was forgetting something important… what had happened last night? Beside me Alice stretched her eyes half open. Next to her was Darren, still fast asleep like a baby.

"Why's he… still… sleeeepiiing?" Alice asked through a large yawn.

"He was out really late last night trying to find some wolves he apparently knew. He probably didn't get back 'till midnight or 1am. So I would think he's drained." I replied, wondering how long we would have to wait till he woke. We could try waking him up ourselves… but would he get irritated?

Alice eyed him, and then looked up at the sky through the cavern. "It seems to be about…" Alice narrowed her eyes at the bright sun. "Somewhere in between 6 to 7am. Darren would know. This means he could probably have a minimum of 6 hours of sleep so far."

"That seems enough." I mumbled. "When I was a teacher I got about 6 hours a night. Shouldn't he wake up?"

"Debbie." Alice looked at me quizzically. "He may have been born before both you and me,"

"You and I." I corrected her.

"Yeah, and he may be mentally older than us. But Debbie, you have to start facing it. Look at him. He's a kid, probably around sixteen. He needs more sleep than us."

I grumbled something in-coherent even to myself; this conversation was long and stupid.

"Darren told me last night we were reaching the next rest stop." I grunted as I sat up, changing the subject, my body stiff from sleep.

"When did you talk to him last night? Didn't go to sleep just after me?" Alice asked as she gathered her things into a neat pile so she could leave right away when Darren was ready.

"Well he had to ask me something-" I started, and then froze, mid-sentence. So _that's _what I'd been forgetting. What Darren had asked me! But now I remembered.

"Ohhh god!" I stuffed my face into my pillow, my words becoming muffled. "Oh god oh god oh god oh god!" This wasn't happening. What Darren asked me last night, what I'd answered 'yes' to, was all a dream, right? It had to be…

"You sound like a teenager." Alice laughed. I didn't reply.

At first sight Alice was tough, strict, and always very serious. I should know I used to be scared of her, although she's human, when she was head officer at Mr. Crepsely's hometown. But once you got to know her, she could be kinda fun. And I liked it that way. Right now Alice was being the fun, laughing and joking version of herself, and I couldn't help but think this was the one time I wished she would shut up and be serious.

"Aliiiice!" I moaned. "Stop."

She caught my gloomy mood and finally shut up. "Fine," she grumbled, "but you can't blame me for being a little excited right after you tell me we're nearing the next rest stop."

I was going to reply, but a low noise coming from behind distracted me. I whipped around to face the intruder, as did Alice, who I might add was a way better fighter than me. But hey, at least I wasn't clueless.

After I turned I saw Darren slowly pulling himself off the ground, stretching his legs.

"Mornin' guys." He mumbled. "That is some uncomfortable ground."

Even through my dread of last night, I couldn't help but smile; Darren was being funny.

"Alrighty…" Darren un-steadily stood up, letting out a series of yawns in the process. "Let's hit the road."

The three of us collected the few belongings we had with us, which were all for easier survival. We also cleaned up our camp for the night as well, so if one of our enemies were to show up at it they wouldn't know that we've been there.

"There's definitely someone else around these mountains." Darren had said with narrowed eyes. "They've been draining all the human blood at the rest stops. Each one we've been to so far have been free of blood, which means someone other than us took it."

Alice seemed concerned at first, "_What if they find us?!" _But Darren shrugged it off as another vampire.

Once we were satisfied we left the cavern and set off to the next rest stop. We walked for a long time, taking tiny breaks every hour, until finally, at 11:30am just as Darren said; we reached it, the rest stop.

"Aaaah." I collapsed on the smooth floor there, 100% relieved. "I couldn't have gone on much longer."

~*~

After Alice retired that night, Darren swiftly approached me as I leaned against the hard, rock wall, grinning happily around at the glamorous rest stop we'd reached this morning, and relaxed at ever since.

"It's getting worse." He mumbled. "I can't see clearly, everything's all hazy. The lack of human blood is really affecting me."

I nodded to him in pity, amidst the luxury of the rest stop.

"We have to do it soon." He mumbled.

My body tensed and my mind reeled at the thought _soon, _but I kept a straight face on the outside. I didn't want Darren to think I was scared. Just to make sure of that, I took a deep, unsteady breath and said, "Why not tonight?"

Okay, that was kinda stupid of me. As soon as I spoke I regretted it deeply. _I was not ready!_

"Thanks." Darren said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I was hoping you wouldn't mind that. Besides, wouldn't be able to go on much longer otherwise."

"Oh, um okay." I mumbled, not really hearing myself.

"Debbie, are you okay? You look funny." Darren murmured as he inspected me.

"Yeah, yeah." I huffed, nodding vigorously, even though I wasn't okay one bit. _Let's just get this over with. _I thought. "Here. Let's get started." I said, holding my arm out to him. My voice sounded overly loud in my own ears. "Bite me."

Darren stood there for a second with a dumbfounded look on his face. Was he making fun of me? I began to speak up, but then he moved. He looked at me for a long time, than slowly looked down to my arm, which I was sticking in front of him. He turned back up to me, and suddenly burst out laughing.

"Um, Darren?" I asked him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He said between laughs. "Debbie, we're not just gonna do it _now. _That would be extremely weird for both of us. And well, gruesome. No way, I never do it while someone's awake. I always feed while their _sleeping_."

How come that sentence freaked me out?

"Oh, well okay." I said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I guess that's a lot better if I won't be awake for it." I was telling the truth, it would be horrifying if Darren drank my blood while I was watching, and well feeling. This was a lot better than that, what I'd originally thought. I'd wake up in the morning at it would be all over. Darren could have even done it without asking me! While I was asleep he could have just walked up and dank my blood, without me knowing. It definitely would have saved me all this stress and worry! And that way no harm done, right?

"You should have just drunk my blood without asking me, in my sleep. It would be so much easier that way. I would have never known." I said to him.

"Well it's too late." He mumbled. "Besides, when I drink from someone I know I always feel obliged to ask them first out of respect."

"Alright, well anyway. Your gonna do it tonight, right? While I'm asleep?"

He looked at me. "Yeah I am. Just relax. You know there's nothing to be scared of. All those who I know and have asked before were never afraid. So no need for you to seem tense."

"I-" I was about to deny my tenseness, but Darren already knew I was jumpy. "Yeah." I sighed. "Your right. Good night."

I gave him a friendly hug goodnight as he grinned; he was such a happy boy.

I went to lay down by Alice just as last night, where I thought for a long time. It must have been hours before I finally fell asleep.

I thought about what would happen while I lay in the dark luxurious rest stop. What Darren would do tonight as I slept. I thought about how long we'd be traveling, and how close Vampire Mountain was in our paths. Alice and I were really out for a good cause. We would train with the vampires, and soon set up our own army of human's…

I fantasized for a while, my dreamlike thought growing bigger and bigger as I pictured what Alice and I would do. We'd given up so much to travel here and well, be here. We'd given up our lives as regular people, me as an English teacher and Alice an officer. This really better end up being worth it…

Darren had given up a lot too. He could have gone with Harkat, he should have in fact. And I knew from the almost constant look in his eyes that he'd been regretting going with us. Harkat was a great friend of his, and I knew Darren was very worried.

That was what I was thinking about when my hearing faded, my vision glazed over as I slowly closed my eyes to more darkness, noises sounded loud as if coming from my own little dream world, and I finally drifted off into restless sleep.

~*~

I awoke to both Alice and Darren prodding me vigorously, but I didn't feel like getting up. I was drained.

My eyelids slowly fluttered open and I stared at Darren and Alice. Alice looked frantic and worried as she tried to pull me up. Darren looked very worried also, and he kept on glancing nervously behind him. Yes, he was nervous, but he looked _much _better. Last night his skin had been very pale, and his eyes had had this glazed look, with bags under them. The past week or so he's been constantly leaning against things and stumbling over himself tiredly, and I knew it was because he needed human blood, and the lack of it was affecting him.

But now he'd drunk from me. And now that he'd done that, his whole self looked fresh and hyper. His eyes were wide and alert moving around faster than I could keep track of. He seemed much more graceful and healthier over all. His skin was brighter, and it was almost as if it glowed. His movements were fast and precise, no longer slow and tired. He looked so much healthier and, well, better. And I was happy I'd had the chance to save him like this. I was proud at how good he looked; my blood must have really done its job.

"Thanks." He whispered distractedly in my ear as he glanced behind himself. "I feel great."

"You're welcome." I smiled. Then my slow brain, which was still fogged with sleep, finally processed that something was wrong. "Guys?" I asked. "What's going on?"

I quickly stood up, making me dizzy.

"Remember how Darren said someone else was near because all the blood was gone at each rest stop?" Alice asked me nervously.

"Yeah." I said.

"Well that person is one of our enemies."

"How do you know?" I asked her. I was feeling nervous. How come they didn't wake me up earlier? Why did they both have to wake up before me today?!

"Darren woke up early to catch us some breakfast for before we leave the rest stop." She said. "You and I were still asleep. He found out who was taking all the blood and actually ran into him. Darren escaped and rushed back here. He tried waking us both up. I woke first and he explained all this to me. Then we set to work trying to get you up."

"Alright." I said. "Well I'm up now. So what should we do now? And who is the enemy of ours?"

"I dunno. Darren hasn't told me yet. He just said we have to get out of here really fast. Apparently it's not safe with our enemy out there. We have to travel quickly and constantly clear our paths. It's not safe until we are securely in the mountain. We don't wanna run into this person again. Darren seems really on edge."

I looked at Darren, who was hurriedly zooming around the rest stop, so fast he was a blur. He was collecting all our things.

"Come one." He said, stopping in front of us. "Let's get going."

The three of us ran for quite a few miles at a time. Darren, knowing we didn't have as much steam as him, allowed us breaks to rest, but only short ones. I knew he could be at Vampire Mountain by now if it was just him running at full speed, but we would be left behind, and he could not risk that with the newly found _'dangers in the mountains.' _He didn't want us running into this guy all alone and getting hurt by him.

Alice and I trailed a few feet behind him as we ran, but suddenly he stopped, his body tense and still. Alice and I came crashing into him.

"Shhh." He muttered. I didn't hear anything, but then again, Darren had vampire hearing.

"Something's neeeaaar…" He trailed off, his eyes narrowed to slits. Finally he said, "Wait here. Don't move, it will spread your scent further. I'll be back momentarily." And then Darren zipped away into the deep, bushy, undergrowth.

I was very confused. Where was he? What was going on? Was something wrong? Alice and I waited in silence, exchanging nervous glances all the while. Finally my mind drifted off from the situation at present. I'd been so distracted about this mysterious evil guy who was apparently out to get us; I hadn't had time to think about the fact that Darren had just drunk my blood last night while I slept. But now I did.

I glanced down at my leg and examined it near and far. Sure enough, right below my knee, was a tiny and light, but very fresh looking scar.

I compulsively shuddered. Darren had drunk my blood. He actually had. Oh my god. I pictured him as I'd last seen him, his eyes narrowed to suspicious, threatening, scary slits. The expression freaked me out, and I was sure Darren had much scarier faces he could make if he wanted to…

My body chilled at the thought. Yes, Darren could be very, extremely scary when he wanted to. I mean I wasn't sure about this, but it was probably true, right?

Was I scared of Darren? Maybe, deep down inside, the answer was yes. I knew it was. But how could I not be? He was a vampire and he just drunk my blood for Petes sake!

Did I still want to be around Darren? Well yes, I wanted to be friends with him… but had I just grown too scared to be near him in the past few minutes?

The more and more I thought about it, the more and more and more I thought that Darren and I should really try see each other less… and that he really, truly, was scaring me.

Alice and I stood there forever, waiting for Darren to come back. I was left to drown in my overly frightened thoughts, something that's never a good sign.

Finally Alice screeched loudly. "See my hand shaking? That's how nervous I am because Darren got me all worked up and nervous. And now he's been gone for God knows how long, and I am _tired _of waiting here! Let's go." She lifted her stuff off the ground and motioned for me to do the same. "We're finding Darren."

I wasn't so sure about this, in fact I was totally against it, because now Darren would come back to the spot we'd been waiting at for so long and we would no longer be there. But Alice had apparently taken over, and I reluctantly hauled my belongings up and followed her through the woods.

We wondered about for a while and I could tell Alice was beginning to regret leaving our spot. We were lost.

I was panicked as we traveled on throughout the mountains, what if this enemy of ours found us?!

Finally we approached a tiny clearing.

Alice and I peered through the bushes, where we saw the shadow of a man. The shadow was pacing, and it was going too fast to be human.

I turned and eyed Alice suspiciously, who was looking at me with nervous eyes. She slowly put her hand to her mouth, signaling, '_Shhh' _. I nodded and tuned back to peer through the bushes. Then the person that the shadow belonged to spoke, with a horrifying voice I'd truly hoped I would never hear again.

"Darren." He said merrily, sending chills up my spine as the shadow moved towards another person's shadow I'd just noticed. So Darren was here? I was really confused now, and quickly recapped the things that had happened in the last two days.

Alice, Darren and I had had the deer for dinner the night before we were at the rest stop. Then that same night Darren asked to drink my blood because there was no other way, and I'd said yes. Darren went to find his wolf friends and I went to sleep by Alice. The next morning Alice, Darren, and I walked to the rest stop and got there at 11:30am. We'd stayed there the rest of the day, and that night after Alice went to sleep Darren told me he would drink my blood that night. I slept and he drank my blood. Then it was this morning when I was woken up, knowing we would be leaving the rest stop. Alice told me that when Darren had been looking for our breakfast, haven woken up before us, he ran into the person who'd been taking all the blood from the rest stops. Darren had run back here and the two had waked me up. We quickly left the rest stop and ran for a while. As we ran Darren had stopped suddenly and told us that he heard something, and to wait here. Then he ran away. Alice and I waited for a while before setting out to find Darren, getting lost in the process. Now we were at this clearing we'd come across where a horrible tiny person I hated was here, as well as Darren.

So when Darren ran off and told us to wait he had came here to get rid of our enemy who was taking the blood? But how could Darren get rid of _Mr. Tiny? _Mr. Tiny was the enemy; I'd heard his voice. _He _was taking the blood!

I watched as Darren's shadow slowly swayed back and forth. "You lie." I heard Darren's voice say. _Lie about what? What had Alice and I missed Mr. Tiny tell Darren?_

"No, I tell nothing but the truth, and you know it. It all makes sense… Without your help on the journey to the lake of souls, Harkat has died. He needed you to make it through, but you left him in his time of need." Mr. Tiny said, he seemed to be grinning. "Of course I wanted to see your face when you found this out, so I had to come over here and tell you. It was all worth it… the look of misery on your face is truly thrilling Darren."

"What about the first thing you told me?" Darren whispered so lowly I could scarcely hear anything other than the pain and despair that shrouded his voice.

"Oh?" Mr. Tiny chuckled. "About our family relations?"

_What?! _What family relations? What was going on? I was really scared now…

"What do you think of that?" Tiny asked.

"I think-" Darren began sounding unsure, He paused, the continued with a very sturdy and definite voice. "I think if this is what destiny wants me to do; it will be hard to… not. If I'm your son, and you had created the War of Scars and Harkat, just to say who would dominate of Steve and I, and if I'm destined to be Lord of the Shadows, well, I don't really have a say in life." He whispered. "You're telling me that there were two ways for you to find out whom, between Steve and I will be Lord of the Shadows. 1. Whoever wins the War of Scars, which hasn't happened yet, we don't know who will win, or 2. If I'd went with Harkat and we succeeded, it would be me, because in the future world of the Lord of the Shadows, the Lord can control anything there. Since Harkat went alone though, and well failed," Darren voice broke at that point. "That means he needed me to help him and go with him to succeed…"

"Thus." Mr. Tiny finished. "Meaning that you are the Lord of the Shadows. Of course if you'd went with Harkat and succeeded, I would still know that you were Lord, but would continue the War of the Scars just to be given more wonderful chaos from the war, which is what I plan on doing now. You know how I love chaos."

"Then why did you just tell me this?" Darren murmured angrily.

"Originally I didn't plan on it, but I was far too impatient to have to wait so long to see the dreadful yet wonderful look on your face when I told you about our relations and Harkat having died, so I told you now instead of having to wait. Oh and I stole the blood at each rest stop just too aware you of my presence before we actually spoke."

I saw Darren's shadow shake it's head. "You are one sick guy…" he said.

"And your mine." Mr. Tiny whispered. It was just a mere whisper, but his words rung throughout the clearing, loud and clear. "I am Destiny Darren, and your mine to keep and control. And what I say is that deep down inside of you, I have gifted you with a vicious monster, one that will one day rule the world as Lord of the Shadow's, wrecking chaos across the universe."

Darren's shadow was a still statue against the blowing snow. "I've felt that monster in me before." Darren whispered.

I froze, scared to death, almost more scared of Darren that DesTiny. It was hard to take in all I was hearing, and my body was frozen in horror.

"I know Darren." Tiny said. "You felt it for the first time inside of you just last night, if I'm correct."

"Yeah." Darren said, changing the subject. "Since you want the War of Scars to continue until I finally win, I should go back now. Debbie and Alice have been waiting decades by now. As I ran I heard you ask if we could speak and met up with you here, to have this whole talk. I told them to wait where we'd been standing."

"But they don't always listen to you, do they?" Mr. Tiny murmured knowingly, and my eyes widened as Mr. Tiny's shadow slowly approached the bush Alice and I were hiding behind. Mr. Tiny brushed the green leaves hiding us aside. "Darren." He said. "You were so caught up in what I told you, you didn't smell them here almost the whole time."

Darren stared at me, horrorstruck, and slowly started to back away. I was more frightened of Darren than ever before, and I couldn't move, I was frozen in shock.

"Young Debbie…" Mr. Tiny said to me, smiling his creepy smile. "As you heard us saying, Darren felt the lord of the Shadows inside him that will one day destroy the world, for the first time last night. You obviously wonder why. Care to tell her why Darren?"

Darren looked at me, a pained expression on his face. "I love you Debbie." He whispered. "Please remember that. DesTiny made me this way…"

"Enough." Tiny spat angrily, turning back to me. "Darren drank your blood last night, as you know, and it was the sweetest human blood he's ever tasted. It felt so nice on his lips, consuming his body, he had to use all his will power to convince himself to stop. Once he got a taste of it, he realized how good the blood of the human you love is, how juicy and sweet, full of wonderful and delicious promises. Eh, Darren?"

I turned away from Tiny and Alice to stare at Darren. I felt so many emotions at once, and I could vaguely hear Mr. Tiny chuckle in the background at my horror. But everything was zoned out. There was no noise I heard, no space, no time. Just Darren and I, 20 feet apart from each other.

"Is… is this true?" I asked Darren, choking over my doomed and miserable soul that seemed to be pouring out of my mouth as I spoke for Darren's taking.

He was sad and full of despair as to what Tiny had just told him. His eyes held such sorrow and wisdom it made me try to possibly think up all the horrible things he'd been through in life.

"I love you more than anyone else in this world, but DesTiny has spoken." Darren whispered. "So let's face it, Debbie. Your blood is Sweeter."

Over

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THIS WAS SOOOO CONFUSING! THIS WAS PROBABLY THE MOST CONFUSING THING EVER WRITTEN AND THIS IS THE ONE STORY I DON'T HAVE A BETA FOR! AI AI TAI AI YAI!!! Alright, now that I got that out of my system, let's be serious. I know how darn bad and confusing this was, and maybe we can beta this through reviews… please tell me how I can possibly fix my horrible and confusing writing. THIS WAS PROBABLY SO CONFSING!!! WAAA WAAA WAAA!! Help me fix the confusing ness. I am so sad now because it was so confusing. So pretty much this was like a different version of the 10**th**** book. Like, a different way book 10 could have gone. Then since Tiny said he wanted to continue the Was of Scars 'cause he liked chaos, book 11 and 12 would be the same as Darren Shan wrote them, just Darren knows he is gonna win the War of Scars that whole time. I guess after where I left off Tiny leaves, and Darren, Alice, and Debbie travel to the mountain as they planned… and the rest of the books just carry on like they were supposed to. BAH THIS WAS SO CONFUSING! Please tell me if it was confusing…! I hoped you like it, but this is a two-shot so the story is over now. REVIEW!!! Tell me if I should start an HP/CDF crossover. Anyway sorry it was so confusing. REVIEW! Frankiegirl61**


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